DROID

[aimeekitty]

Hello daaahlings,

um... so, Mitch's cellphone, after being literally taped together for a year or so (both our cells are pretty old... mine has a dark corner for a year. haha.) well, his finally bit the bucket yesterday. He HAS to have a relatively advanced phone since all his reminders and schedules are on it. (He used to have a palm pilot back in the dark-ages. hurhur)

Point is, he got a DROID (droid 2 I think?)

I really like APPLE stuff, but my family uses Verizon, I hear bad things about AT&T's coverage... and Mitch is pretty set on the DROID.
Tell me that Mitch and I will be perfectly happy using DROIDs?
I want to look up constellations, I want to have a GOOD drawing app, I want to be able to post pictures directly to LJ, TW and FB from my phone, I want to have videos and mp3s synch from my iTunes program onto my phone. Is all of this sort of thing possible on the DROID, too? (I worry about stuff like this, which matters when you're drawing...)

aggggh... I hate even thinking of paying for a data plan. *____* But you can't get smart phones really anymore (like just for an organizer purpose) without getting a data plan.

Comments

[slave-to-anime.livejournal.com]

You know I'm an iPhone user, but I suspect you'll both be reasonably happy with Droids. Those specific apps, I'm not sure about, but I'm guessing they probably do exist on Android. I'll leave it to someone with more expertise on the platform to say for sure.

Synching with iTunes admittedly is the question mark. Apple is supposed to have that locked down. Google suggests trying doubleTwist. No clue how well that would work. Movies bought on iTunes will almost certainly be trouble. Music bought on iTunes is probably a bit more possible since iTunes music should be DRM-free now.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I'm not TOO worried about movies, as that's not as important and I seldom buy movies through itunes. It's mostly my own movies on my iPod that I've converted for iTunes.

But the music library is important.
I have visions of having my iPod and my phone... I guess that's ok, but it kinda defeats the purpose of having an all-in-one (supposedly) phone.

[taperkat.livejournal.com]

The ONLY reason I would get an iPhone over a Droid (note: Alltel was bought out by Verizon) is because I have Mobile Me. I currently have a flip phone that I love so until iPhones move to Verizon AND my flip phone dies I probably won't be getting one... If iPhones don't move to Verizon within the next year I will probably get a Droid though.

I really think the Droid is a superior phone, and I think it'd be an excellent choice. I'm not sure about any of the things you listed though; I don't know how uploading music to it works (legally it couldn't use iTunes). But I have a friend who REALLY loves his Droid and he does graphic stuff as well (video game, but still~) and most of everyone that has a Droid has been super happy with it.

Sorry I'm not much help with the specifics, but I don't think you'd be unhappy with it. :) Hopefully someone has one and can give you specifics :)

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

what's the deal with Mobile Me? (I also have that)

[hinoai.livejournal.com]

I thought that Mobile Me was ridiculously expensive? So much so that I couldn't imagine why people would subscribe to it.. I must have misunderstood the description...

I dunno about an android. Admittedly I know nothing about it, and iphones here are managed by Softbank, which is the best of all of the phone companies (imo), but to be honest, even if that weren't so, I wouldn't get any other type of smartphone. The reason being that iphone is the one that people think of first, and so iphone will almost always be the first to have apps. I doubt that anything exciting will come out for any other platforms first. It's like how all of the cool new software comes out for PCs before (if ever) it comes out for macs. If you want variety of apps, then you have to get the most widely used product.

[taperkat.livejournal.com]

$99/yr, but when I worked for Apple I got it free. And then I got another free code for doing their training. Etc.

[mercurykitty.livejournal.com]

One of my managers at work has a first generation Droid and LOVES it.

My coworker and my future mother-in-law both have phones with Android operating systems and LOVE them.

Daryl has an iPhone 4 though work and, while he loves it, I HATE the damn thing. Whenever he calls me it sounds like he's far away and underwater (even with the case that prevents the death grip effect).

[purpleallison.livejournal.com]

I can see what that article is saying about screen sensitivity and straight lines and such. But then again I can't draw a straight line even with a protractor and a robot exoskeleton guiding my arm! ;P
But I do otherwise love my droid. (Droid 1, the X and 2 are probably spiffier than mine) the first apps I recomend are app killer, swift key or swype, lj beetle and google sky maps.
The sonic screwdriver, lightsaber and tricorder ones are also fun.

Hope you enjoy your new phones!

[spiralstairs.livejournal.com]

I love my iPhone, but when I lived in Cali, AT&T service was horrendous. My calls got dropped at least twice. You can jailbreak it to get Verizon services, but then that voids the warranty and all that other business. :( I don't know what's available for other phones, but I know Sketchbook Pro is available for iPhone. Best of luck! :)

[adichappo.livejournal.com]

I don't have an smart phone of any kind, but my brother just got a DROID and loves it! It even has a "sonic screwdriver" app. That's all I really know of them.

[obliviousally.livejournal.com]

I don't have a Droid, but I'm with Verizon and I've been pretty happy with what I've been able to do with their smartplans and all. I've got a Palm Pixi, actually and if it does the same sort of things the Droid does, you should be pretty happy with it. I can post easily to FB and update LJ, as well as easily transfer music and all that.

A few people I know have Droids, as well, and are pretty happy with them.

I can't really give an opinion on any drawing apps. I had one for my Pixi, but it just wasn't something I personally liked at the time.

[hoshikage.livejournal.com]

Mark and I both have Droids and really like them. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about its options for the specific apps you've described, but I do know you can put music on it (I just haven't bothered because I did wind up with an iPod from a gift before getting the phone... ^^;)

One note of warning - the protective cases (which I definitely wanted, with my clumsiness) do have a bit of a tendency to break off at the corners after a while (or perhaps it's determined by number of impacts...), because there isn't a lot of space in the Droid design to attach the things and so the brackets that hold them on are super-thin and fragile. Just a heads-up.

[purpleallison.livejournal.com]

My husband and I have the seidio cases and they seem to be holding up very well. For some reason his color came with a belt clip but mine didn't. *shrug*

[fiducia.livejournal.com]

I have the HTC Incredible (Droid-type phone)and...

I
LOVE
IT!

Seriously. It's amazing. I haven't looked up apps for constellations or drawing but I know you can post pics directly to Facebook via the Facebook app that comes already installed on the phone. I don't know about LJ since I haven't found that app nor Twitter but I'm 99.9% sure they are out there.

The only problem is that Droids don't sync with iTunes. You CAN, however, import those mp4 and video files onto your Droid's media file and listen to them just fine. You just have to plug your phone into your PC and use it like an external data drive. You can take songs right out of your iTunes folder and copy/paste them onto your Droid's memory card or into the internal phone memory. You won't have the fancy cool iTunes interface to work with but the functionality is there.

My touch screens accuracy is great, honestly. I don't have a problem typing and there are auto complete words similar to the iPhone/iPod Touch so that's NOT a problem.

$30 data plan is unlimited use as opposed to AT&T's which is $25 but only 2 gig or something like that. Now granted if you use 2 gig a month of data I want to know what illicit web sites you're visiting so Ic an book mark them for myself...but anyway the plans are comparable.

*hug* Good luck!

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

is there some way I can synch my contacts from "address book" and "calendar" onto a DROID... (etc...?)

[ladyofdragons.livejournal.com]

Speaking from someone in the app industry, both the iPhone 4 and the newest Droid offerings (Like the X or EVO) are comparable. You can nick-pick the hardware if you want but really you'll get a good phone either way. Maybe do a little bit of research into the pressure sensitivity for the newest phones if that's a point of importance for you.

Honestly I don't think carriers are as much of an issue as the hype says. They ALL have pros and cons both ways and SOMEONE's network is always going to be "better" than another's because it's the evolving nature of hardware. Is that computer you bought last year total shit because your neighbor has one that's only a week old? Not really. Same goes for networks. AT&T is already upgrading their outdated hardware, Verizon will eventually have to as well, as will Sprint one day when 4G becomes obsolete.

I also would not put too much weight into Verizon having unlimited data where as AT&T does not anymore. They have plans to cut their unlimited data and eventually all carriers likely will have to as well. Nature of the beast.

As apps go the iPhone/iPad has a HUGE library compared to the Android Marketplace and it may even stay like that. Though Android is a more flexible OS to develop for that also makes it harder to control. The more handsets that are released that use Android the more variables there are in development and the more opportunists there are for apps to break. That's the benefit of the "closed" dev environment of Apple's OS. It's much easier to develop and test for. Plus you can always jailbreak your phone if you want more options or apps. SO in terms of content I would say Apple beats Android hands down, though Android may narrow the gap as time goes by.

Though I love Google products I have an iPhone 3GS that I love. I'm not an Apple fangirl as I'm not fond of their "strict" style, but they do make an amazing product. I also use AT&T as a carrier and have for almost 10 years now, and have had very little issue. Unless you spend a ton of time in really rural areas AT&T's coverage won't be an issue.(Verizon was not an option for me personally because I know a little too much about their company politics/morals and won't give them my personal money if I can help it.)

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

well, where we live is a bit far out, so I worry about that a little, and then I'm often in basements, etc. haha. My friend at work has an iPhone and seems to like her's fine (even in the basement), but then I hear from other people who get dropped calls alot. (my parents got horrible ATT reception in SC...)

It's funny what you say about the apps, because I would have guessed that open source would mean MORE programs, not less.

I haven't gotten a new computer in a long time (except for our laptop) haha. We tend to use things until they absolutely must be replaced. But we do want to make the best choice possible so that we can keep what we get for a long time without too much hassle

[mrlich.livejournal.com]

I read (and am replying to this) on my 'old school' Motorola Droid (original). I couldn't be happier with mine. My girlfriend couldn't be happier with hers. My coworker (who, like me, is a tech toy nerd and currently has an iPhone 4) is disappointed with his iPhone and keeps threatening to jump ship to Android.

I'm certain you would be quite happy, with the possible exception of the art apps. As a fellow illustrator though, I wouldn't recommend a phone (any phone) for even a digital _sketch_book. Much better to get something like an iPad, old XP Tablet, or an upcoming Android tablet for that.

Good luck!

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

what I really want is a portable cintiq. I've seen someone convert a macbook (ie hack it) so it has a drawable screen, and that's pretty cool. but I don't really NEED that yet. I probably WILL need that in a couple years, but I'd only want it if it was as good as a cintiq, basically, ie, so that I could really truly do professional quality work while outside or whatever.

Otherwise, what I'm really looking for is just something I can sketch on while out and about. It doesn't have to be pro-quality, but I do expect my line to go where I want it to be, and I suppose I'd want it to be a certain level of "good".

[miss-jane.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you posted this - I have no idea what new phone to get when I move to the US. I really hope you make the right choice!

[merrycalliope.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who is a pretty hardcore Apple person but decided on the Droid over an iPhone and is very happy with it. I'm not sure how she syncs her iTunes though--that's really the only thing that I'd have any doubt over.

For what it's worth, M and I both have iPhones and have had no issues with AT&T's service. Otoh, we had Verizon for other services and that's been moderately flaky and my mom had serious issues with her Verizon cellphone coverage. It seems like providers can be really hit or miss. >_< The main downside of an iPhone for me, really my only complaint, is the lack of physical keyboard. The massive amount of third party development for the iPhone largely makes up for that shortcoming though (if you don't text/email much from your phone). You can find an app for just about anything!

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I do txt a decent amount, so... you're saying that hwould be difficult on an iphone?

[jinyo.livejournal.com]

I have never owned an iPhone, but I LOVE my Droid.
I use it to web surf, check email & facebook, listen to music, watch videos, download stuff from YouTube, find stuff IRL, get directions, check traffic. It even does GPS turn-by-turn navigation with the little computer voice that tells you when to turn.

For constellations, I use Google Sky Map. You hold it up, and point it toward any point in the sky, as if you're looking thru binoculars, and it shows you stars, constellations, etc. Plus, it's free! My sister has a similar app on iPhone, but she had to pay for it.

I've never tried drawing on my Droid. I just downloaded a couple of drawing programs, to try this out, so we'll see. I don't really like drawing with my fingertip. For the last several years, every computer I've gotten has been a Tablet PC, so I think that's a better mobile drawing platform. I just open Photoshop and do my graphics right on the screen. Never used a Cintiq, they're probably better, but I like my Tablet PCs a lot.

I don't tweet, but I know there are multiple good apps for Twitter. There are also LJ apps. I post pics from my phone to Facebook all the time.

I'm pretty sure you can't use iTunes with a Droid, since it's Apple's app. Personally, I like the way Droid does it better: You plug your phone into your PC with a USB cable, and your phone basically opens up as an additional drive. So you can drag files over, set up folders however you like, etc.

Another thing I like is that my Droid memory is on a MicroSD chip, which means I can pop it out and get a bigger chip if I want to upgrade the storage on my Droid. With an iPhone, you're stuck with the storage you get.

iPhone definitely has more apps than Droids do. I heard iPhone has like 230,000 versus Droid's 70,000. So basically, Droid apps are outnumbered 3-to-1. Of course, like two years ago the ratio was 10-to-1, so Droid is catching up steadily. (Either one of those numbers is way more apps than I will ever use.) iPhone has more apps because they were first to market with a really good smart phone, and held that position for a good couple of years, allowing them to get firmly established with the apps. Droid is open-source, so they are catching up quickly, but they are still a bit late to the game.

I have a gmail account and use the address book and calendar there for those functions. They sync up with my phone automatically. Also, Droid's address book will also sync with Facebook, grabbing info from your Friends list (if you want it to)

One little thing I *really* like about my Droid, that I didn't expect to matter so much:
My Droid has a removable battery. All smartphones have terrible battery life, compared to dumb phones, because of the internet/wifi/GPS bells and whistles that make them so awesome. That means you end up having to leave it plugged in a lot of the time, especially the more you use it. But I went on eBay, bought a couple of cheap batteries and an external charger, and now I just swap out the battery whenever it runs low. So much more convenient!

One last bell/whistle I like is voice recognition. It feels all Star Trek-y to Google something or get directions just by talking to my phone. I also use it for texting.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if you could get a stylus or use a stylus with the DROID?

that is cool about the swappable battery.

the voice recog is cool too.

[mrs-melodie.livejournal.com]

I love my droid. I dont know how I lived with out it. and you want to get the unlimited data plan if you get a data plan. *nod* its so worth it.

[singingraisin.livejournal.com]

I don't have a smartphone and probably won't be getting one anytime soon, but I do know quite a few people having trouble with AT&T service, and the iPhone in particular. Never heard much negative about Verizon, and since switching to them, I've been really happy with my service (used to be on T-Mobile, where I was much less happy). As a phone, I think the Droids win, which is really what I think should matter most. Most of the other guys in my department have smartphones, and most of those phones are droids. The iPhones don't work inside our building.

For all the extras, I'm not sure. But I always carry a purse and would rather carry around multiple electronics (and their corresponding separate batteries) that do a couple specific things than put that much stress on one item anyway.

I think you'll both be fine with Droids.

[kairi-g.livejournal.com]

I'm posting from my droid right now! I love it! Its got some weird quirks but I can do most things iphone users can, and there are some things droid does better. There are definitely fewer frivoulous apps, but I don't care about that stuff really anyways.

[evilzug.livejournal.com]

Syncing your Mac stuff with a Droid:

http://www.markspace.com/products/android/missing-sync-android.html?source=picker_android

Found the link in this thread:
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/131-sync-apple-programs-imac.html

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

awesome.

[deathlikescats.livejournal.com]

If you do decide to get a DROID based phone, please try and stay away from Motorolla. The production quality is LOW due to demand. the HTC incredible is REALLY much nicer.

I just did the touch screen test to see if it will create straight lines. I was just in note-making mode (an app on the system. should be available if ya go to the Verizon store to try it out yerself)BUT it was making nice straight lines in both directions. no wiggle or breaks that I didn't make myself with my finger.

I have small fingers too so less surface area for the phone to work with. Try it out next time you are at their store.

[sakurae.livejournal.com]

Everyone I know that has one loves their first gen Droids. I myself will be getting a Droid 2 so we can be Droid buddies! :D

[melimsah.livejournal.com]

I HAVE the first droid. It's... awesome. My boyfriend had an iphone for three years (yes, coverage sucks), and recently got a windows mobile phone - he can't stop talking about how much he wants a droid.

The droid plays itunes music. It has pandora and twitter and facebook - and you can post photos to all of those (I dunno about livejournal - you can post to flickr though).

The recent update has effed up my phone royally, however, but it hasn't happened to everyone's and hopefully it'll be fixed. (I'm also insanely techno-cursed).

Basically, what I'm saying is -- do it! Android is an AMAZING operating system and all the droids are amazing pieces of technology. They can do pretty much anything an iphone can. There is even Google SkyMap, which you can hold up towards a direction of the sky and it tells you exactly what you should be seeing, constellation-wise!!! Probably the only thing iphone has in its favor is better games.